Magazine Adverts Codes and Conventions

The purpose of a magazine advert is to promote the album, sell the artist and get the audiences attention.

I have researched codes and conventions of magazine advertisements and have made a checklist down below for when it comes to creating my second ancillary task.

• The release date. This is important because the audience need to know when the album is actually going to be out for them to buy.
• Image of album cover. This will let the audience know what they are looking for, and will also [promote the digipak
• Main Image. Often the same as the album cover, the main image on the advert is there to ensure brand identity and further promote the digipak
• Album / Song title(s)- the is essential as it is what this advert is actually selling
• Artists name- this is going to help promote the artist, especially if they are new, not widely recognised artists. having their name in a magazine advert is gong to make them more well known and also exciting for previously existing fans
• Information about the release -the target audience can get an idea about what will be in the album and also general information, for example:
• Where it is available to purchase. This is necessary because the audience will know where they can find the work, (iTunes, Amazon, in stores etc.)
• Record label logo. By knowing which record label they are signed to, the audience get an idea what kind of music the artist plays. Also, this may be necessary for legal requirements.
• Social media links 
• Tour dates. This is important for fans of an artist, especially an older, more well known artist.
• "Includes the single..." This will sometimes be included as if an artist  has had one or more hit songs that made it into the mainstream music service, the general public may be more inclined to support the artist and listen to more of their work.
  
  
  
  

Storyboard Draft

I sketched a few storybouards for the first minuite of my video. I included the differnt types of shots and vausguely drew locations. I am not much of an artist, but drwining out each shot was very useful with my planning, as it made e think about the types of shots I want to include and when I would like to have them.

Logistics

 Logistics is the organization of a complex task that requires lots of people working together to build the finished product.

As a director I need to make sure the camera, locations, model and makeup are all free at the same time to shoot the photos for the ancillaries and shoot the main music video. Luckily, my video plan doesn't require a lot of makeup, as I would like my model to look quite natural, and Imogen, my model, is very skilled at makeup and can do her own.

In terms of locations, I am mainly using my bedroom and bathroom, the beach and the train station, which are all places that are free to use at whatever time of day, so the main requirement with logistics is making sure Imogen is free to shoot.
I need to be able to give her at least a few days notice before the shoot, and so to not waste time, I would like to have a shot list planned already before the shoot begins.

For my "girl group scenes", I need to ensure that the 'studio' is free, I can use the camera, and my girl models are all free, including Imogen. For this I created a group chat so it would be easier to contact all my models and give them all the information necessary.

Music Theory Research

Before I start my production, I need to research the theory behind music videos, and what key points impacts the visuals.
I have found general rules to follow and then looked at specific types of theorists to understand ore about video theory. 

For a good music video, the music and video needs to work together to create an overall atmosphere.

Lyrics and melodies establish a general feeling/mood/sense of subject rather than a meaning. 

Meaning is often presented more through visuals, and the tempo of music drives the editing.

Genre might be reflected in types of mise-en-scene, themes, performance, camera and editing styles.

The use of camera impacts the meaning. Movement, angle and shot distance all play a huge part in the representation of the artist/band.

Editing is done in fast cuts, using thought transitions, so each beat is a new shot.

Digital effects often enhance editing, which manipulates the the original images to offer different kinds of pleasure for the audience.

Inter-textuality is often present. Inter-textuality is the shaping of a texts’ meanings by other texts. Not all audiences will spot a reference to another text, which would not significantly detract from their pleasure in the text itself, but greater pleasure might be derived by those who recognize the reference and gain a sense of fulfillment by this. It also increases the audience’s engagement with, and attentiveness to the product. 

CAROL VERNALLIS MUSIC THEORY

Carol Vernallis is a music video theorist that says there are four stages that make up the creation of music videos and that they can all be broken down into these stages. 

The four are: Narrative, Editing, Camerwork and Diegesis.

The Narrative of a video is essentially the story that takes place throughout the course of the video. There are several other elements that also factor into the narrative.

The Structure of the narrative may not always be clear, it might be out of chronological order or cut away to the performance. This is done often by bands that want to put an emphasis on the performance of the song over the story.

The music video must fit in with the genre of the song and the overall style. It should be presented in a manner that fits with the established "look" of the band/artist.

The story is not always what moves the video forward, this can be done by the performance as well as the music itself.

The story might have an open ending that lacks a clear resolution to pose questions to the viewer.

The video should be a visual response to the song.

The narrative of the video may be presented through a montage, rather than a more continuous compilation of shots to make the story.

The editing is what pulls the video together and can have an impact on the overall style of the video.

The editing can help give the video it's own style. This can be through use of colours imposed on the footage as well as a unique way of cutting.

Some edits can be much more "in your face" and draws the attention of the viewer to make it more obvious than standard continuity editing.

A convention of music video editing is to break the rules of continuity editing.

Music videos can be edited to mach the beat of the music, i.e. cutting on the beat.

Camerawork in a music video is also something done in different ways to more traditional styles of films.

The overuse and under use of particular shots don't line up with how other types of videos prioritise shots and the framing too is also different.

The particular style of how the shots in a video are framed may be used specifically for one video to give it a certain distinct look,

The camera may move around in time with the melody, beat or lyrics of the song.

Extreme shots are used very frequently in music videos, both extreme close ups and wide shots.

The Diegesis of a video is what is shown on screen to the viewer.

What is on screen, be it the performers, characters or items may move around to be in time with the music, especially true of performers or dancers.

Sometimes the diegesis might be revealed to the viewer slowly so that the viewer doesn't always have a clear understanding of what is being shown in the video.

The viewer may also not understand what is on screen due to gaps in the performance or the narrative.

Goodwin's Theory 

I watched several videos to get an understanding of what Andrew Godwin's theory is and I learnt about his  rules about what music videos should include.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ju861wsE98Mic This is a video that shows the various conventions that they follow.

• There will be a relationship between the lyrics of the song and the visuals on screen. This can either compliment or contrast the lyrics to emphasize points. This can be seen in the majority of music videos.  

• Thought beats are the relationship between the music itself and the visuals on the screen to illustrate, amplify or contradict the music.

• You can look at the music and interpret it by looking at the verses and chorus. The voice within the song can be unique and easily recognisable. The song should also be telling a story and the video should help to illustrate what that story is.

• Genre related style or Iconography present in the video

• The video will include multiple close ups to create the start image that will promote the artist's brand image. I have noticed this in rapper Amine's most popular video, 'Caroline', where he features bannanas and lots of yellow, which he has claimed as his signature colour, and has centred a lot of his merchandise, promotion and tour design around. 
  

• Voyeurism often plays a part especially in the relation to females (female gaze). For example, in videos such as 'MOMMAE' by Korean hip hop artist Jay Park, where there is a prominent sexualised view of women, conforming with the theme of voyeurism. 

• Intertextextual references to other media texts may be present, especially in humorous videos. We can see this in Kyle's music video accompanying his song about being addicted to social media, "Just a Picture", featuring interesting use of graphics to bring in other media platforms.

 

Lighting Research for Video

I would like to use a mixture of day and nighttime shots, complimenting the non linear structure.

Lighting is very important in any type of video production, and lighting can be used to display emotion, a narrative, and showing the audience how the actor is feeling. 

I love the use of colored lights in some of the videos I have analyzed, for example, the bright daylight in JCole's video

 

The contrasting teal, pink and orange colour scheme is so striking for the audience, and I love the use of sunlight in the morning is something I would

This Berhana video has absolutely beautiful colours has is definitely the kind of video I would like to replicate. As I mentioned in my analsysis of this video, the use of the white clothes and paint is so intriguing for the audience and the colour grading in the sky is pleasing to they eye.

The aesthetics in this video are amazing. the different colours, incline this pink based scene are memorable, and because the different locations have contradictory colours and lighting each scene gives a new vibe.

Camera research

http://filmmakersfans.com/7-types-cameras-used-hollywood-movies/

For my music video promo I will be using a Nikon 5500.  The Nikon D5500 is perfect for general visual shots and also shoot the photos for the digipak and magazine advert. The LCD screen is touch-sensitive and the precise focusing and adjustable zoom makes capturing photos and videos very easy, achieving great shots. The screen flips out, allowing the user to look at themselves if necessary.

The camera itself comprises auto white equilibrium for shots in low light settings, the ability to remove motion blur unlike many regular cameras and a more precise vehicle exposure which could come in hand when filming on a road at night.

I also looked at a few reviews to get a sense of the camera and what professionals thought about it and they were extremely positive with comparisons to the other cameras on the market.
http://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/nikon-d5500

Photo Shoot - 19th September

Here are the photos from our shoot at the beach on 19th September 2017. I love the shots, however I think I need to sheduclae in another shoot for some varied locations, to match the video, train station and in the bedroom etc. These photos will be perfect for my ancillary tasks as they match the video and style that I am going for with my model.

Lighting Research for Photos

For my shot list I created a list of all the lighting I wanted to test out. :
I experimented with the lights before shooting my final production, but I used this lighting guide as a base for my shot lists. 

I found this research extremely helpful however found during my production that it’s good to base the lighting of a guide and then adapt to the model and camera to make sure the photo looks as good as it can, there are also factors to consider, like the environment you may be in, and personal preferences.

Representations of Women in Music Videos

The representation of women is very diverse in the music industry, with stereotypes being around from as long as music videos have been produced.

Because my artist is a female producing music in a genre that is fairly male- dominated, I want her to be seen as a strong, self assured woman in my promo.

Women are often overly sexualised in music videos, seen dancing provocatively and dressed however it could be argued that this inst as damaging and oppressive as we think, ans that this is actually a representation  of women who express their sexuality and assert their femininity through what they look / act like. Unfortunatly this isn't a wide ideology in the western pop video industry, but some of my favorite artist celebrate their femininty and embrace the stereotypes, challenging them.

Some stereotypical portrayals of women in HipHop music videos are:

'Gangsta Hoes'

These women are shown to be less classy than the others, being rougher. They are shown in a much more sexily explicit way, dressing suggestively, sometimes skimpily and occasionally barely clothed at all. They are a great example of voyeurism in music videos as their bodies are often the main focus of their videos, however a lot of female artists who used to be connected to this negative depiction of women are now embracing it and using it to comment on how they are represented. This could be said for artists like Nicki Minaj  or Cardi B.

'Pop Princess'

These types of girls are usually seen in the pop genre and genrrally their target audience is younger girls and teens. Because of this they dress more modestly and appropriately for this audience. They also act more politically correct and possibly childish to reflect, relate to and attract them. 

taylor swift// katy perry

'Divas'

These are women who are portrayed as dominant and powerful in their videos. They can be shown in a sexual way but not in an explicit or sexually inappropriate way. Lots of close up shots as well as low angle shots are used to make them seem more imposing and powerful to the audience. In most videos 'Divas' are often wearing dark black clothing, crop tops, skirts and dresses.

I like the style of "divas" the most, as I think they hold the most power out of these three common representations of women. I think it's important that women are seen in videos to embrace their sexuality and not let society damage that/ sexualize it in an excessive way, so that is the setryotpye that my video will conform

My Target Audience

Jorja Smith has a target audience of predominately female listeners aged 15-25, however she also attracts a lot of male listeners due to her hiphop, edgy feel. Because of this, my artist, Luna, will have a similar target audience, and will conform to the similar conventions Smith does.

Locations

I like the idea of using the beach, I have a huge variety of beaches near me, including sand, pebbles and harbors. I think that using these in the different seasons would be effective. I also would like to use the location of a train or tube station. I would like a mixture of light and dark shorts, filming some at night, as a range of timings would happen in a non linear video promo.

Similar Artists Photo Shoots

I have analysed similar artists profile shots from photoshoots to learn the codes and conventions of how female artists are represented through the camera, and get some ideas for my ancillary tasks.

Jorja Smith is the artist to the song I am using for my music video. I love her natural, raw style and this is often reflected in her album. artwork and photoshoots. I also love the use of a backdrop that is textured, contrasting with the denim she is wearing and her skin.








I really love the use of pastel colors in the background and her clohtes, complimeting her dark undervest and hair.
I also love the composition of this shot, her skin is absolutely glowing, an although she is wearing minimal makeup she still looks natural.

Quin is another artist who has a similar style to Jorja Smith. The use of warm natural tones compliments her caramel skin and light hair. I like her blank expression with her lips slightly parted. The use of lighting is intriguing and is something I would like to replicate in my photoshoot. It's important that the backgrounds and textures used in the photos compliment and contrast each other.

Lauren Jauregui looks amazing in these photos. I think the use of direct eye contact with the camera is very powerful and compelling for the audience. Once again the use of the brown, warm tones and contradicting textures, with the fluff another jumper to the wooden planks at the back. I also like the photo out in open air, and I wold like to experiment with the different locations in my photo, and I like that she is in focus and the background inst. I love the contrast with blurred and stark, in photos, and the lighting in the black and white photo is natural, again working well with the textures of her clothes and accessories.

Make Up, Hair and Costume

My models hair is purple and she is very talented at doing her own makeup. I like the idea of using the same kind of pastel colour pallet for hair, makeup and clothing, mostly purple and yellow(contrasting colours), blue and pink. I also want this to be replicated in my locations, with similar warm shades that blend together.